He's only directed three movies in the 10 years since Hostel:
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greasykid1 — 9 years ago(October 10, 2016 02:52 AM)
I think that Roth sets out to make thoughtful horror, with depth of character and plot but then gets caught up in the gore, and the desire to put extreme images on our screens.
So often, everything that makes good horror great is lost in Roth's work because he in unable to put over a truly likeable character for us to root for. Even in Green Inferno, where the female lead is in danger of having her genitals mutilated, there is still a disconnect because there's just not enough good character work in the opening act to get the viewer emotionally engaged.
And when he does spend 60 seconds trying to get across a point about someone's character, it's the ridiculous scenes such as the antagonist masturbating while locked in a cage by cannibals.
Roth spends way too much time thinking "I want THIS freaky thing to happen in this movie now, how can I manipulate the script to that point? Never mind how unrealistic or outside of the established character traits."
That clunky, immature execution distracts me and pulls me out of the movie, becoming too aware of the writer's intent through his sledge hammer subtlety.
I didn't hate Green Inferno. But it's flaws are many. And calling it an "homage" to works like Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox is to greatly exaggerate the meaning of "homage".